Word is, there have been some late nights at the regional PennDOT office in Allentown, which oversees Berks County projects, and probably every other office too.

They're trying to figure out how to spend the sudden influx of cash from the recent statewide transportation funding boost.

There's no shortage of wish-list items to pick from.

Berks municipalities recently handed county planners their lists of projects they'd like money for: mostly bridge repairs. And there's dozens of projects the county and PennDOT have had their sights set on for years, ranging from fixing rural bridges to rebuilding the West Shore Bypass, but haven't had the funds to see through.

PennDOT also issued a list of projects it plans to tackle over the next decade. The question is, what happens when?

PennDOT has to figure out what it's doing with a one-time boost of funds it has to use before the start of the next fiscal year in October. In Berks, that amounts to $9.4 million for roads and $6.5 million for bridges.

At the same time, Berks transportation planners are working on a four-year spending plan and have to meet federally mandated deadlines for that. They need to know what the one-time cash is being used for so they can plan what comes next.

In essence, it's a big - but welcomed - logistical nightmare. Everyone's thrilled to start knocking projects off their lists but, having worked with limited funds for years, it takes some quick adjusting.

Engineering firms, also excited about the funds, are running into similar growing pains, David Lowdermilk, president of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Pennsylvania, told reporters on a recent conference call about the funding.

Many engineering firms moved staff out of state because of the lack of work, he said. Now that there's action in Pennsylvania again, they have to ramp back up.

As for transportation reporters: There will be a lot of new stories to keep our plates full but it sure beats writing the same old one about the absence of funding.